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MOE Scholarship Dreams
Friday, June 30, 2006 12:09 PM The MOE building has very fascinating lifts for a technological ignoramus like me: You press the floor number you want to go to at the lift lobby. When a lift door opens, an LCD panel just inside the lift door will indicate which floors it will stop at. And so to reach the floor you want to go to, you have to enter a lift that says it will go to that particular floor. From what I recall, there're no buttons in the lift, so I gather that if you forget to alight at your destination, you could very well be stuck in the lift until someone outside rescues you. I made it there and back without any mishaps in the lift on Wednesday to attend the MOE meet-up session for us MOE Teaching Scholars. It was basically a get-to-know-you session, complete with *gasp* ice breaker games for the recipients of the scholarship as well as a briefing for some administrative matters. Many relevant personnel also had a turn at speaking; the OBS instructor and her briefing, a senior and her experience sharing, two NUS professors and their promoting of some of their programmes. Having been briskly acquainted with the lot of Teaching Scholars, I couldn't help detecting this general aura of idealistic enthusiasm in the air, exuding from both the scholars and the speakers. I could see a subtle tingle of invincibility in some of the scholars' eyes. And words like 'Global' and 'Achievements', or 'Meaningful' and 'Enriching' kept popping up on the powerpoint screens or on the lips of the speakers. It seemed to me that by the end of the session at MOE, some of the scholars would have been sufficiently psyched into believing that they can come inspire a new generation of students, change the education system, and bring about World Peace. "Crap lah, the MOE is just like SAF like that, got anything to say also must go through the proper channels and chain of command. You can't do very much. Want to change the screwed up education system? Forget it man." the few of us ORD'd blokes who later sat down at a nearby coffeeshop for lunch were, of course, too jaded and cynical to have been influenced by all that idealism, "eh Zichun, you okay not? You look a little sick." I couldn't help feeling very sick after being immersed in that aura of unrealistic grandeur for a whole morning. ... Actually, I had choked on a mint-flavoured menthos earlier, and I discovered there and then that having menthol in your windpipe was no joking matter. My whole face went red, I really couldn't breathe and speak. I had such terrible spasmic coughs that I thought I might have ruptured some blood vessels in my throat. In reality, I believe most people can't manage to do very much in their lives. Every now and then, we hear of idealistic high-flying civil servants (or civil servants-to-be) that publicly (or privately) tell of their dreams of wanting to change the screwed-up system for the betterment of society. These people are usually top scholars (PSC, President's and beyond), and they usually end up having to later clarify that the system's not all that bad after all, or, if they didn't make their unrealistc claims too public, confess that, it turns out, there's nothing very much they could actually do. How much less us second-tier scholars? ... My answer to that is God. No, I'm not trying to suggest that "with God as my divine weapon, I can hope to do all things great and glorious, and maybe, via a miracle, change the system according to what I think is right." Rather, the idea I'm trying to put forth is more along the lines of "now that I've realised how insignificant my own abilities are, I can suspend all faith and endeavour in my own human abilities, and instead, believe in and endeavour upon God and His plans." Surely God has already made plans for the system if even us second-tier scholars can see the wide array of problems that plague it. However, I think firstly we have to accept that realistically speaking, there's probably nothing very much we as individuals can do to make any effective AND lasting changes. We may perhaps start something notable, or propagate something that's already been started. However, without Someone to plan and orchestrate everything, and equally importantly, many cooperative people who choose to follow, carry out and maintain this one single plan through the generations, we'd only very likely end up with many different imperfect plans carried out half-way, and nothing very much done. In a world where everyone has good intentions, but are often hindered by pragmatic problems that often result in disillusionment and cynicism, God is the answer. And striving to be the willing and obedient servant and worker of God's plans, hardworking and humble; that is the best hope we can realistically harbour for the effective and lasting improvement of anything really. Meanwhile, let me continue to hope that I will not get into any trouble with the intimidating lifts when I go back to MOE tomorrow to sign the contract. ( 1 comment) My History Drama Script Wednesday, June 21, 2006 10:29 AM Presenting to you the script that I wrote for the History Drama Competition. Do note that this thing was written by a bumbling and angsty secondary two schoolboy who had too many ideas to effectively express them out properly. I suspect that most people will not appreciate most of the script's finer details. Heck, in fact, I think apart from the four of us who trashed out the stage directions, about everyone else could catch no ball. Apart from some punctuation ammendments and spelling corrections, I've left the script almost completely unaltered; rhythmic and rhyming errors, grammatical mistakes, bad expressions and all. Enjoy: Once upon a time in the town of Singapore Raffles made his port of call on her very shore At that time the police had no officer in charge So William Farquhar's son in law Francis James Bernard Took the part time job of magistrate and attendant Jailer, marine storekeeper and helper to the Resident The police force then had twelve people in all "Which is incompetent at catching thieves at all And even if they catch the thieves" "Yes finally" "The theieves with a bribe will still go scot-free Because with a puny eight hundred a month For me and all those under my command A nice big bribe from the loot laden thief For the poor policeman is more lucrative" Therefore in the year of eighteen nineteen The streets of Singapore were neither safe nor clean Raffles thought that Singapore's conditions were ill So he blamed Farquhar calling him "Imbecile" Farquhar with a lot of tasks still undone Had to, for law and order raise more funds So he legalized opium smoking and gambling With profits going to the force which was growing Later in the year of nineteen forty-one A magistrate was there to get things done "Under me there was hundred twenty-eight Loyal men who would anytime come to my aid But alas even with these big strong men The bad ways of the criminals I still cannot mend" In eighteen forty-three by popular demand Thomas Dunman was the first full-time chief in command Dunman had difficulties which were immense "Including a problem in the area of finance Furthermore my men are overworked and underpaid Buy luckily efforts to teach them were made And by reducing the working hours that they had Their morale was actually not that bad In eighteen sevent-one due to to much pressure Thomas Dunman made the decision to retire As he left the office for the last time as boss He left behind an efficient and humane police force Twenty years after Thomas Dunman had retired "A new uniform for us was created It consisted of a blue serge coat and cap And white trousers and black shoes to go with that" The detective force in eighteen eighty-four Was built to help uphold the law And because the Chinese had a very bad experience "Of corrupt policemen who had the license To kill and rob and rape and steal Our family's every single meal" So not a single policeman Was a local Chinese man In eighteen nineteen a policeman must have thought "These trousers that I wear are really hot If I wear these trousers too long everyday I might not get to celebrate Father's Day" So he got the force to wear white khaki shorts Which was cooler than the old trousers by lots And thirteen years after they regained their fertility In the very fateful year of nineteen o'three The fingerprint system was introduced So trouble in identifying thieves was reduced In the next year of nineteen o'four Before any Europeans in Singapore Could even dream of being in the police force Had to go through a special training course The course required them to learn the local language And take competitive exams "Hard as those from Cambridge" The ISD was formed in nineteen nineteen To arrest anyone who had even been Thinking of anti-Singaporean plans Or setting up chauvinistic communist bands The marine traffic and communication branch Was added to the force to add a bigger punch "By the decade of nineteen thirty thanks to us And our big police force of two thousand plus Transformed the originally crime laden land Into a place under the strong and mighty hand Of justice to make it a land of peace So that trading and profits will increase" In the fateful year of nineteen forty-two Yamashita wanted to have Singapore to rule So with a "Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat" Singapore was attacked by him just like that But of course he had tens of thousands soldiers on his side And with that thousands of Singaporeans died Gen'rel Percieval couldn't take it anymore So he decided to surrender Singapore The original police force which had disbanded In the war had now been restarted Along with the force came the Kempetai Whose orders no Singaporeans could defy These two forces were corrupt and ruthless And with them there was no justice or fairness "Because if a bad but very rich man Who decided that he wants to steal my hen Will never be charged for theft in court No matter how much proof I have got Because if he bribes the judge with money He will definitely go scot-free And unluckily for me if I fail To pay the fines the judge set I will go to jail" Not only could the police control everyone's money Their lives were also under their authority And with the power that the police forces had They terrorized the streets of Singapore quite bad They murdered, robbed, killed and shot their very own peers And that went on for many years But finally in the year of nineteen forty-five An atomic bomb hit Hiroshima leaving few alive The bomb was made to launch by President Truman "And the explosion was caused by nuclear fission" "We had expected Japan to surrender However all they did was to fight on harder So let's drop another bomb on Nagasaki" "I knew I shouldn't have studied chemistry" So with that there was a very big sound "Kaboom" And everyone in Nagasaki met their doom So soon the Japanese in Singapore surrendered And the Singapore Police Force and the Kempetai crumbled The citizens of Singapore hated the force And they even deliberately tried to break many laws Police chief Colonel R.E Foulgar thought that it was bad So he tried to rebuild the force with all that he had His efforts were luckily for us a success And soon the force started to make progress In nineteen forty-one ten policewomen Were hired so that in a situation Involved the arresting of rowdy women And searching of their bodies in case there's a weapon No matter how much the women try to protest They will never shout the very fearful word "Molest" One year later due to one too many riots The Riot Squad that suppressed riots were created And till now it is still here due to all the good it's done But now it's called the Special Operations Command "Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof" "And that meant the police force did improve Because in nineteen fifty-five dog units were set up To help track down everything from criminals to a cub The dogs helped in almost every single raid And patrolled around houses though they were not paid" In nineteen fifty-nine there were eighty officers Out of which forty-seven were local members NPCC was formed in nineteen fifty-nine So students would think that being a policeman is fine Bartley Secondary School was the pioneer School that had police protection from the interior In nineteen sixty-three Malaysie merged with Singapore The name of the force was thus not the same as before THe Royal Malaysian Police Force was its new name And catching spies and saboteurs was its new game In nineteen sixty-five we separated from Malaysia And SM Lee even publicly shed a tear Now its name was Polis Republik Singapura And the MID controlled it from afar In nineteen sixty-nine the policement changed their looks "So that we could impress all including the crooks The original dark-blue shirt and white khaki shorts Were replaced with new all light blue uniform that were so hot" The police force maintained its efficiency And made Singapore a very safe country In nineteen eighty-seven Mr Lim Kim San Took over the MID and all of its fund He introduced policement into the NS Which certainly reaped a lot of success "NPCC" Mr Lim Kim San was to say "Is to be in every second'ry school as an ECA" And so this is the brief history Of the Singapore Police Authority Now that you you have finished watching our production We hope that you will look into this baton ( 6 comment) Reflection on DHSCO China Trip '06 (31st May to 10th June) Wednesday, June 14, 2006 6:33 PM I was given the assignment of writing down reflections for the trip to China this year. After thinking for a few days, I've decided to write about this: One of the many highlights of the China trip this year was the opportunity to play my favourite song: Qu Yuan Fu - Ju Song. It is my favourite song not only because its melody is very moving, but also because behind the wonderful song, is the great man, Qu Yuan, whom I really admire. Qu Yuan was a great politician and poet in the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC) in the state of Chu. During that time, because the State of Qin was becoming strong and dangerous, Qu Yuan tried to form alliances with the neighbouring states so that they might have a chance against the mighty and evil Qin. However, because there were some bad eggs who corrupted the Chu king, Qu Yuan was instead exiled. During his exile, he travelled and wrote a lot of poems and songs that expressed how much he loved his country, and how sad he was that his country was going to get invaded by foreigners. While in exile, he did not resort to doing something silly like trying to muster popular support for better foreign affairs administration in the capital so as to pressure the king to make more astute political decisions. Instead, he did the right thing of falling into depression and writing touching poems that did not point out the flaws in the current administration. So, when the capital of Chu was finally captured by the Qin army in 278 BC, he couldn't take the grief and committed suicide by jumping into the Miluo River. Qu Yuan was a good minister who carried out effective political reforms, and he was also an accomplished poet whose poems still make people today feel extremely patriotic and sad when they read them. Nobody really seem to take note of that, but, in my opinion, his greatest accomplishment and what everyone should remember most about him is still his committing of suicide. If us normal people, especially Singaporeans, committed suicide, we'd probably get hand-cuffed and all that because suicide is still murder according to the British Law, and then maybe our suicide will turn up in the media, but it's a very extremely small chance and only if our suicide was part of a disturbing social trend that was worth highlighting for the sake of social awareness for the general public. Nobody would even know our names because our identity has to be protected and all that. However, when Qu Yuan jumped into the river, he managed to mobilize the whole neighbourhood to look for his body in the river, and then when they couldn't find it, they made and threw perfectly good rice dumplings that could have been used to feed poor and starving peasants into the river to prevent the fishes from eating his body. And then 2000 years later, we celebrate his suicide by eating rice dumplings and racing in dragon boats every duan wu jie (5th day of 5th month of lunar calendar). So the lesson that I have learnt from Qu Yuan's story is that when we suffer setbacks in life, we should wallow in self-pity and depression and give up altogether. We should not try to help ourselves, nor accept any form of help to recover from the setback, but we should keep telling other people how depressed and upset we are in our poetry. So that when we do commit suicide, people may start to notice our works of art and might even create a holiday or two to celebrate our suicides! ... Heh, the trip to China with DHSCO was much much more than just a song about someone who committed suicide, but I guess I just couldn't resist writing this. Qu Yuan's not just about the suicide I suppose, but it seems that's what everyone (not least me) remembers about him. (P.S I hope nobody took my exhortation to commit suicide seriously...) edit: (By nobody, I really mean nobody, except Chunsz...) ( 2 comment) |
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